Vehicle for the disposal of snow and ice



Sept. 13, 1949. A, J, CAYAS VEHICLE FOR THE DISPOSAL OF SNOW AND ICE.

Filed Oct. 20. 1947 Patented Sept. 13 194g ,unirse V.sfriirrss @forties This invention relates to the disposal of snow and ice by transforming the same into liquid form and then conducting the resultant liquid to a sewer or the like, the invention having for its object to provide a construction which is practical in character, efficient in operation and less costly to manufacture than those heretofore proposed.

With these and other objects in view the invention resides in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts as Will be disclosed more fully hereinafter and particularly covered by the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an automobile to which this invention has been applied;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the body portion only of the automobile and showing the general arrangement of the snow and ice receiving hopper, the drain therefrom, and the plurality of pressure tanks containing the fuel for transforming the snow and ice into liquid form;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View of the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2, taken as on the line 3-3 of the former and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the strainer plate used in conjunction with the snow and ice receiving hopper.

This invention may be applied to an automobile as illustrated so as to be transportable from one place to another, or it may be more or less stationary and have the snow and ice conducted thereto by any well known means such as conveyors. In other words the invention resides in the combination of the hopper with the strainer plate constituting the snow and ice receiving chamber, and adjoining compartment for the fuel tank, said chamber and ysaid compartment having a common wall, the nozzle extending through the common wall for directing the fuel for combustion in the chamber space above said strainer, and the drain for the resultant liquid.

More specifically, the numeral 2 designates generally the hopper having the side walls 3, d, 5 and 6 and a pitched or inclined floor 'l having the conduit 8 associated therewith for draining the liquid from the bottom of said hopper to a suitable discharge connection indicated at 9 which may be valved or not as desired and which may lead to a sewer or other source of disposal of the liquid. The side walls form the combustion chamber I0 into which the snow and ice are fed, the snow and ice coming to rest upon a plate I I of any suitable form so that the liquid resulting from the melting of the snow and ice may pass readily into the lower portion of the hopper to reach the drained floor 'l thereof. This plate is illustrated as being imperforate and of cruciform shape, with the side edges thereof recessed as indicated at i2 with respect to the outer edges I 3 of the corner portions of said plate, the recessed edges l2 providing slot-like apertures when the plate is in position in the hopper, through which apertures the melted snow and ice may pass as liquid. This plate preferably is made readily removable from the hopper as by means of eyes or rings such as I4 by means of Wh'ch it is hoisted or lowered. Any suitable means of support for the plate may be provided in the hopper.

A compartment generally identified by the numeral I5 is formed adjacent the chamber I0 and prcerably has the wall such as 4 common to both said chamber and said compartment, the walls I6 and I1 forming two other sides of the compartment, with the doors I8 and I9 constituting the front side thereof. Within this compartment a plurality of pressure tanks such as 20 and 2| the former containing for example acetylene gas, and the latter for example containing oxygen, these two tanks having valved connections to a suitable manifold 22 provided with one or more nozzles such as 23 extending through the common wall 4 into the chamber Ill whereby the ignited fuel from the nozzle will furnish the heat for melting the snow and ice and thus produce the resultant liquid which may escape through the conduit 8. The tanks 20 and 2| constitute one pair of fuel containers, and in the drawings there is illustrated a plurality of such pairs, each pair being similar to the others and provided with similar valved connections and nozzles, and said pairs may be in any number and disposition with respect to the hopper as desired. A storage compartment 24 may additionally be provided, and having the door 25, for tools, extra parts, iilled or empty tanks, etc. Within the Compartment I5, the tanks may be positioned by suitable vertical partitions or spacers as clearly indicated in Fig. 2, and/ or by a horizontal spacer 26 as shown in Fig. 3. Obviously other liquid or gaseous fuel from one or more tanks may be provided instead of the fuel hereinabove mentioned.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit of this invention, wherefore it is desired not to be limited to the exact foregoing disclosure except as may be required by the claim.

What is claimed is:

A vehicle for the disposal of snow and ice comprising a chamber bounded by side walls and a oor, an imperforate plate onto which snow and ice are fed, said plate disposed substantially horizontally across said chamber and above said floor, a source of fuel and a nozzle Vconnected therewith for directing the fuel into the chamber space above said plate for combustion in said space whereby to transform into liquid the vsnow and ice supported by said plate, said plate having edges of such formation as to be in engagement with said side walls at the corners of the plate and to be spaced from said side Walls between two adjacent corners, the space thuscreated constituting a straining passage for the liquid thus formed, and a drain conduit connected to said 10 Number oor for receiving the resultant liquidV owing from said plate through said passages.

ALEX J. CAYAS.V Y

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Browne, et al. Sept. 17, 1929 

